A7V-133 headaches

[Guest]

Hi, and thanks for looking/replying...
I'm about 7 days into this new mboard/cpu.

A7V133 w/1.2G AMD 266FBS 1005a BIOs, 4-1 Via applied.
being broke I've used some of my old stuff..
320mb pc100 mem (2x 128m, 1x 64m)
SB Live Value (latest drivers)
Diamond Viper 770 Ultra (latest nvidia ref.)
Creative 52x cdrom
3com NIC (forget model never really had problems)
WD 8.xG HD ata66 (slave)
WD 30.xG HD ata66 (master)
WinMe, v4.90.3000 (all the updates I could get from MS for it)

HD's are in the IDE primary (not using ATA100 port)
CD is in the secondary IDE

anywho pretty standard stuff, and all worked great with my previous K7V w/800mhz AMD.

Problem(s)
Apps (games actually) crash often, typically with "(someapp)caused an error in <unknown>", or just CTDs. Other apps seem to run great (eudora, IE, utils, etc). I've reinstalled winMe 6 times (ugh), and poked around BIOs a bit (I'm no pro there though).

Basic bios settings:
Using dips..
VIO 3.3v
Core Voltage 1.725/1.75
Bus 12x
Freq. 100 (again, using pc100 mem)

Settings are fairly standard, been using AGP 2x (but currently trying 4x setting, card "supports it").
AGP Drive Stregth - Auto
AGP Fast Write - Enable
Video Memory Cache Mode - UC (it's SDram on the card)
Using "By Spd" on the mem settings (aka Auto)
PCI Master Cache Reading - Enable
Delayed Transaction - Enable
PCI to Dram Prefetch - Enable
Byte Merge - Disable (see below)
Dram Read Latch Delay - Auto
Memory Data Drive - Auto
CAS # Drive - Auto

This all seems stable, except for gaming (which is what I do with this machine). Some games run well, without problems, but others (more intensive) crash with odd errors "...caused an error in <unknown>" or just CTDs.

I tried setting Byte Merge to Enable, but that screws my network connection somehow, so just leaving that off (was suggested in another post to have it enabled).

My PCI cards are layed out as such. going left from the AGP slot:
AGP, Empty, Empty, Sound, Empty, NIC, Empty, Modem Riser (which is naturally empty). I have tried moving the cards around a bit just to see if something magical happens.

No apparent conflicts, and otherwise the system sure seems runs nice..

I also saw in another post to try running the cpu at 9x bus, 133 freq, then set dram to 100. Haven't tried that as I'd rather not use jumper free (assume that is the only way to tweak it like that).

Anywho, open to suggestions on BIOS/settings whatever. I'm about to give up on it and just live with the crashes. Or maybe I have some bad mem (haven't yet pulled them out 1 at a time, perhaps tomorrow I'll try that).

Again thanks, sorry I'm so wordy.

G.

edit --
Forgot to mention I use an SK-6 heatsink/fan, side cover is off the case, with a room fan blowing on the board. Typical temp after a bit of hard running (when I can run it hard heh) is around 49C, so heat doesn't seem an issue.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by OIVay on 07/11/01 08:08 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[jlanka]

I was also thinking RAM myself. Might want to play around with that.

Also, you didn't mention anything about Power Supply

<i>It's always the one thing you never suspected.</i>

 

[RavenPrime]

When I upgraded to BIOS 1005a, my home system started to crash all the time. My office system did not which is almost identical--go figure. Anyway, I even re-installed WinMe and still no improvement. Then went back and loaded the setup defaults for the BIOS and no further crashes. I believe the problem is one of these:
PCI Master Cache Reading
Delayed Transaction
PCI to DRAM Prefetch
Byte Merge
Disable these. I have AGP FastWrite enabled and the Video Memory Cache Mode set to USWC and Aperature Size to 128.

My system:
A7V133 BIOS 1005a
1.33GHz Tbird at 1.4GHz with FSB overclocked to 140MHz
256MB SDRAM set at CAS2
SB Live 5.1
2 20GB HD set in Raid 0 stripe
Geforce3 Card
Linksys network card
16X DVD drive
WinMe
DirectX 8.0

Hope this helps.

<i>Its not fun AFTER you have fragged everyone.</i> James

 

[Guest]

Power Sup is a 300w. Mother Board Monitor shows my voltages as being good. Isn't a name brand psu, but seems to be pulling the load ok. Still, you're right it could be suspect.

Thanks for the tips guys, will go try some settings.

 

[Guest]

Just curious, does your vid. card support fast writes? If it doesn't, that could cause problems. If the card is not AGP 4X, it doesn't support it.

 

[dmcmahon]

With only PC100 DRAM, you should definitely keep memory bus freq at 100. Better yet, upgrade to PC133, a 256M strip is only $60 or so.

Definitely stick with the default BIOS settings. Byte Merge should be avoided (Asus support actually told me to turn it off when I reported problems with my USB).

Don't know much about BIOS 1005a, I have 1004 and my system is stable, so I don't want to risk upgrading. I do have the VIA drivers installed (I am running ME by the way), I installed the 4.29 4-in-1 driver set. Again, since my system is stable I'm reluctant to upgrade to 4.31.

Card layout looks fine, though you might consider moving the NIC card to slot 2 (e.g. AGP, empty slot 1, NIC in slot 2, sound card in slot3). Reason: the slot you have the NIC in shares an INT with the USB chain, whereas slot 2 shares an INT with the Promise controller (which you're not using).

You should really consider upgrading your vid card. Given the symptoms you report, the problem seems to be associated with switching on advanced 3D/AGP modes, because the other apps you say work fine are just normal 2D. Could therefore be either BIOS settings (e.g. AGP fast writes) or driver issues. Either way, getting a new card might help. With a low budget, consider a GF2 MX, it's not a power-hog and it runs great, at least in my system.

Hmmm, unless it's the sound card...there are lots of reports of problems with SB Live cards and the VIA 686B chipset (which your board has). Any lockups or problems playing MP3 and such? That might help point the finger away from the vid card/driver if so. FWIW I have an SB Live 5.1 in my system and it runs great, knock on wood.

 

[Guest]

I have/had the same problems.There are issues between Athlon t-bird and d3d gaming..Do some reading on Amd's site and via Site and stuff and youll find lots of fixes. I have a v770 ultra and it runs fine. I have it set on 4x and 128 ap size. I also have it set as main vid card..

 

[Guest]

Are you using the correct cable for ATA 66? You cannot use old IDE cables for that.

You might try setting your CPU FSB and RAM speed to 90 Mhz. if you get a stable system out of that, you know that your problem is hardware, and you don't need to reinstall windows.

Do you have a good cooler, the Athlon is hot at 1.2 Ghz, and need a good cooler.

If you only crash in games, your graphics card may be hot, check airflow in your case, or try running with case open. Check that all fans work.

You have a nice system, and you should be able to play any game on it.



---
Engage!

 

[ahallada]

I agree with Raven, when I installed that bios version 1005a everything went to pieces and I ended up sending the motherboard back. Do use those Promise ATA100 controllers first. Hook up hard drives to separate cables to both Promise controllers and make sure you have the Promise drivers installed and are using them. They rock. The VIA southbridge doesn't rock and I think more people screw up their systems by downloading those new 4 in 1 drivers. Just use the Promise controller for your hard drives with the supplied ATA100 cables (blue connector at end plugged into Promise ports and hard drive hooked up to the end of cable as Master) and use the motherboards IDE channels for your CDRW and DVDs etc. Lastly, Asus for some reason recognizes the Promise controller as a SCSI controller and you may have to go into bios Boot section and select SCSI for your boot device if you move your boot drive to the Promise controllers. Good luck and I hope you can get back to bios version 1004.
As far as the PCI slots go, the A7V133 allows you to force the IRQ settings for 2,3,4&5 slots. I would download Sisoft Sandra free diagnostic software from CNET.com

http://cnet.search.com/click?sl,techsearch.2.103.426.0.0.sisoft+sandra.0,http%3A%2F%2Fdownload%2Ecnet%2Ecom%2Fdownloads%2F0%2D10102%2D100%2D6313817%2Ehtml

and run diagnostics on your ram, processor, hard drives,etc. If you could copy your IRQ settings and paste them on this website that would be huge help. I like to keep the Sound Blaster, Video, and USB on their own IRQs. For starters you can go into bios/Advanced/PCI/and force the IRQ of slot 3(sound card) to IRQ 9. I think the A7V133 assigns IRQ 10 to the Promise controller. Anyway if you could put the IRQ settings on here that would really help.
Allen